Rivaayat, A tradition of good life
At the Downton Hotels, we are strong believers in being of the place we exist in. Our central ethos is to narrate, relate and amplify the story that every city is. Our first premium business hotel in Raipur opened to the public on 6th December 2020.
With life just returning to normalcy, we at The Downton Hotel in Raipur are motivated to fast-track this process, enabling people to celebrate life again albeit with the necessary constraints of social distancing and a heightened sense of hygiene and sanitization. To this end, we have left no stone unturned to create social and cultural events at our hotel in Raipur, be it the opening ceremony, made auspicious by towering dignitaries from across all walks of life to the Christmas and New Year bash that was a welcome relief and occasion to start afresh.
In the same tradition of loving and living life to the fullest, we created yet another event. Rivaayat, a rendezvous of poets, some accomplished, some aspiring. All of them came together on a common platform at our hotel in Raipur to the extreme joy and satisfaction of people of this great city.
The Hindi heartland of India has a time-honoured tradition of indulging in poets and their creations on public platforms. Rivaayat is an honest attempt to propagate this tradition. The Downton Hotel in Raipur was honoured by the presence of four poets whose reed captures the very essence of life, love and emotions in a few words. That which remains unsaid is positively poignant.
At the first edition of Rivaayat, Raipurians were in for a treat as the poets were particularly inspired by the august gathering of intellectuals and lovers of poetry. The show got on way with our chief, Vivek Shah delivering a powerful introductory speech welcoming one and all to the evening of celebrations and indulgence in poetry, with ambrosia and nectar of our kitchens flowing freely lifting the souring spirits even higher.
Coincidentally, the Rivaayat was held on the final day of our Musical Pizza Festival on 31st January 2021. Inaugurating the first ever wood-fired oven pizza of Raipur, Celebrity Master Chef Marco Cappiotti himself flew down from Italy to fire the oven at The Downton Diner, our multi-cuisine restaurant in Raipur.
The ever-popular Dr R K Jain chaired the session for the first edition of Rivaayat at The Downton Hotel, Raipur. The poets who entertained and enlightened the denizens of Raipur, in the order of their seniority are Mukesh Alam, Zuber Ali Tabish, Firdaus and the young Raj Tiwari.
Each of these poets held the attention of all of us for a half-hour each with their riveting rhyme covering a variety of thoughts through their words. For those of you who were unable to grace this occasion, we have uploaded the entire program on our youtube channel, as one continuous video and as parts featuring each poet separately. So go ahead click the link below and escape into an evening of ecstatic poetry with the Rivaayat of The Downton Hotel, Raipur.
We intend to make it a regular fixture at our hotel in Raipur for the benefit of intellectuals and poetry lovers of Raipur. So follow us on our social media to keep yourself updated on the next dates and also the various other cultural and entertainment programs we have planned and lined up. In the meanwhile, do plan to visit The Downton Diner and My Kind Of Place, the most happening bar and restaurant in Raipur with live music, these are the hottest new places to be. Hope to see you soon for the next edition of Rivaayat and more.
